--- title: "NSW work injury damages: claim letter and pre-filing checklist" url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-work-injury-damages-prefiling" type: "precedent" site: "AI Law Framework" id: "a21-nsw-work-injury-damages-prefiling" area_id: "A21" kind: "letter" ai_level: "yellow" version: 1 task_ids: ["A21-T1-R5", "A21-WR20261022-1", "A21-T1-R1", "A21-WR20261022-11"] law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23" --- # NSW work injury damages: claim letter and pre-filing checklist > Letter to a New South Wales workers compensation insurer claiming work injury damages, with a checklist for the section 315 pre-filing statement. The impairment percentage depends on the injury and the notification date. Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-work-injury-damages-prefiling Law stated as at: 2026-10-23 Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt ## Key facts - Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send. - Practice area: [Personal Injury & Compensation](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) - Jurisdictions: New South Wales - AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on. - Law stated as at: 2026-10-23 - Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-23 against the 5 authorities it cites, for New South Wales. ## When to use it Use when a worker asks the insurer for work injury damages and the file is being prepared for a pre-filing statement. Do not use it to lodge the weekly-payments claim, or to draft the medical assessor's report. ## Used for these tasks - [Draft the pre-action notice or statutory claim form from the instructions](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/draft-the-pre-action-notice-or-statutory-claim-form-from-the-instruction.md) - [Test an injury against the statutory threshold for benefits or damages](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-an-injury-against-the-statutory-threshold-for-benefits-or-damages.md) - [Calculate limitation and pre-action notice deadlines from the injury facts](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/calculate-limitation-and-pre-action-notice-deadlines-from-the-injury-fac.md) - [Record the time to decide a compensation claim or a reconsideration request](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/record-the-time-to-decide-a-compensation-claim-or-a-reconsideration-requ.md) ## How AI may be used The tool may assemble the claim letter and the pre-filing index from material the lawyer has already accepted, and the lawyer chooses the impairment cohort and writes the negligence particulars. **AI may:** - Sort the file into injury type, notification date, and whether the worker is in an exempt, coal-miner or volunteer group - List the SIRA claim-letter topics against documents already held, including the permanent-impairment assessor report - Build an index for a pre-filing statement without writing the particulars or a verification **AI must not:** - Must not state a permanent-impairment percentage until the lawyer has read the current section 151H for this injury and this notification date - Must not apply the December 2024 page's 15 per cent figure to a primary psychological injury first notified on or after 1 July 2026 - Must not draft a statutory declaration, a witness statement, a verification, or the permanent-impairment assessor's report **The lawyer checks:** - The current section 151H is opened before any percentage is typed. On 23 October 2026 only the heading was available: no damages unless permanent impairment is at a certain threshold - Primary psychological injuries are sorted against the SIRA FAQ: 25, 27 or 28 per cent by notification date, or 15 per cent if notified before 1 July 2026 - Section 315(2) is met before a pre-filing statement is served. Sections 281 and 314 were not opened beyond the note in section 315 - Procedural Direction WC4 is re-read on the day of use. Its reference to at least 15 per cent is not treated as universal - Health, wage and scheme records stay in the firm's approved tool. ASCR r 9 and APP 11 apply. A breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). ## Authorities - [Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW) s 315 (pre-filing statement before court, and the section 281 gateway), read on AustLII on 23 October 2026](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/wimawca1998540/s315.html) - [SIRA, Work injury damages, updated 19 December 2024 (modified common law, the claim letter, one month to determine liability, and a three-year court period)](https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/workers-compensation/what-you-can-claim/work-injury-damages) - [SIRA, Workers compensation reform FAQs (primary psychological injury thresholds of 25, 27 and 28 per cent by notification date, and the pre-1 July 2026 cohort)](https://www.sira.nsw.gov.au/workers-compensation/workers-compensation-reform-faqs) - [Personal Injury Commission Procedural Direction WC4 (threshold dispute, defective pre-filing statement, section 151D, and mediation), opened 23 October 2026](https://www.pi.nsw.gov.au/resources/procedural-directions/procedural-direction-wc4-work-injury-damages) - [Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW), in-force table of contents. The heading of section 151H was read. The operative words of section 151H were not](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1987-070) ## Full text and drafting notes The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-work-injury-damages-prefiling and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm. *Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*